Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2017: attitudes data
This survey provides an important source of data on attitudes to government, the economy and public services over this period.
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4. Importance of voting
The Scottish Social Attitudes ( SSA) Survey 2017 asked participants questions about voting in elections:
- How important do you think it is to vote in Scottish Parliament elections?
- How important do you think it is to vote in UK General elections?
- How important do you think it is to vote in Local Council elections?
In this chapter we present headline findings at a glance, and highlight statistically significant differences in views between different groups in the population.
How important is it to vote in elections?
Figure 8 shows that 92% of people said that voting in Scottish Parliament elections was 'very important' or 'fairly important'. For local council elections, this figure was 88% while for UK general elections it was 87%.
Over three-quarters (80%) of people said that voting was very or fairly important in all three elections while 5% of people said voting was not very or not at all important in all of the elections listed.
When these questions were first asked in 2005, 82% of people said that voting in Scottish Parliamentary elections was 'very important' or 'fairly important'. For local elections this figure was 82% while for UK general elections it was 85%.
In 2005, 74% of people said that voting was very or fairly important in all three elections while 9% of people said voting was not very or not at all important in all of the elections listed.
Figure 8 How important do you think it is to vote in Scottish Parliament, UK General and Local Council elections? (2017, %)
Variations in attitudes between subgroups
Views on whether voting in elections was important varied between a number of social groups, based on statistical significance. These are listed here. Variables with no statistically significant differences are listed in Annex A.
92% of people said that voting in Scottish Parliament elections was 'very important' or 'fairly important'. This varied by subgroup as follows [20] :
Voting in Scottish Parliament elections was 'very important' or 'fairly important'
| Subgroups | % |
|---|---|
| Interest in politics | |
| Any interest in politics | 95 |
| 'No interest at all' in politics | 66 |
| Support for a political party | |
| Supported or felt close to a political party | 97 |
| Didn't feel close to a particular party | 83 |
| Living Comfortably | |
| Living comfortably on present income | 95 |
| Struggling on their present income | 84 |
| Political affiliation | |
| SNP supporter | 97 |
| Other | 90 |
| Tenure | |
| Home owners | 95 |
| Private renters | 90 |
| Social renters | 86 |
| Educational Qualification | |
| Degree or equivalent | 97 |
| No formal qualifications | 91 |
| Main Income Source | |
| Wages or private income | 93 |
| State benefits | 87 |
87% of people said that voting in UK general elections was 'very important' or 'fairly important'. This varied by subgroup as follows [21] :
Voting in UK general elections was 'very important' or 'fairly important'
| Subgroups | % |
|---|---|
| Interest in politics | |
| Any interest in politics | 91 |
| 'No interest at all' in politics | 54 |
| Support for a political party | |
| Supported or felt close to a political party | 92 |
| Didn't feel close to a particular party | 77 |
| SIMD Quintiles | |
| Least Deprived | 94 |
| 2 | 92 |
| 3 | 91 |
| 4 | 75 |
| Most Deprived | 82 |
| Living Comfortably | |
| Living comfortably on present income | 91 |
| Struggling on their present income | 75 |
| Educational Qualification | |
| Degree or equivalent | 95 |
| No formal qualifications | 84 |
| Tenure | |
| Home owners | 91 |
| Private renters | 84 |
| Social renters | 78 |
| Economic Activity | |
| Education or full time training | 88 |
| In work or waiting to take up work | 87 |
| Unemployed | 72 |
| Retired | 93 |
| National identity | |
| More Scottish than British | 83 |
| Equally Scottish and British | 90 |
| More British than Scottish | 95 |
| Main Income Source | |
| Wages or private income | 89 |
| State benefits | 80 |
88% of people said that voting in Local Council elections was 'very important' or 'fairly important'. This varied by subgroup as follows [22] :
Voting in Local Council elections was 'very important' or 'fairly important'
| Subgroups | % |
|---|---|
| Interest in politics | |
| Any interest in politics | 91 |
| 'No interest at all' in politics | 63 |
| Support for a political party | |
| Supported or felt close to a political party | 93 |
| Didn't feel close to a particular party | 78 |
| Economic Activity | |
| Education or full time training | 82 |
| In work or waiting to take up work | 89 |
| Unemployed | 73 |
| Retired | 92 |
| Religious Identity | |
| Religious | 92 |
| Non-religious | 85 |
| Main Income Source | |
| Wages or private income | 90 |
| State benefits | 81 |
| Educational Qualification | |
| Degree or equivalent | 93 |
| No formal qualifications | 86 |
| Living Comfortably | |
| Living comfortably on present income | 90 |
| Struggling on their present income | 81 |
| Tenure | |
| Home owners | 91 |
| Private renters | 85 |
| Social renters | 84 |
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